


explosive

by stufferknee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Slytherin Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26028994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stufferknee/pseuds/stufferknee
Summary: They say hatred and love are two sides of the same blade, but looking at Fred Weasley you refused to believe it for even a second
Relationships: Fred Weasley/Reader, Fred Weasley/You
Comments: 3
Kudos: 124





	explosive

There were three things in Fred Wesley’s life you could always be sure of: his love for Quidditch, his brilliant pranks, and his hatred of the Slytherin house. In reality, the feelings he harboured towards Slytherin were nothing more than passed down prejudice between the houses, the rumours and stereotypes of evil wizards coming from the house of snakes. It didn’t help that the mouthpiece of your house was an arrogant, loudmouthed enemy of the Weasleys. Either way, you never saw eye to eye with the orange-haired hooligan, avoiding him at all costs. 

It began when Snape forced you to be partners in your early years, Fred and George having caused too much of a ruckus being partners. You weren’t swayed by the twin's outgoing personalities, finding them more annoying than endearing. It only worsened when Fred seemed more interested scowling at you than working on the potion in front of you.

“Can you try and focus or does your brain not comprehend handling more than one task at a time?” You spat, tired of carrying the weight of this partnership.

“I’m doing my share, not my fault my work isn’t up to your standards, princess,” Fred snapped, rolling his eyes as he dumped the next ingredient in.

“Maybe if you spent less time trying to mentally project how much you loathe me, you’d realize you dumped the wrong ingredient in,” you growled, cursing as you flicked through the pages to see if you could salvage the rest.

“It’s not my fault Snape stuck me with a nasty Slytherin like yourself.” There was venom in his voice now, rivalling your own.

“HA! Maybe if you and your idiot brother shut up for once in your life, you’d still be his partner. I’m only nasty because you’re being an arrogant prick.” Working quickly, you managed to even out the potion. It wouldn’t get top marks, but you at least wouldn’t fail.

“How am I being the arrogant prick? You’re the one insulting me at every turn!” Fred was defensive now, clearly not used to being on the receiving end of criticism about his behaviour.

“You came into this partnership already fuming because I’m a Slytherin. You don’t even know me, Weasley. You know the colour of my tie.” You rolled your eyes, they were bound to fall out of your head after this class. “Just help me get this done and we can never speak to each other again.

“Fine by me.” Fred flicked through the pages of his own book, the tension hanging between you as you managed to produce a semi-decent potion.

If only you had known this wouldn’t be the end of your rivalry. Snape refused to end your partnership, relishing in Weasley’s misery too much to separate you. In fact, Fred was your partner every year you had Potions with the Gryffindors. Classes were tense but mostly silent, only heated hissing when you got in each other’s way or Fred was distracted by Angelina. The not-speaking was a good arrangement, you could handle the glares and daggers, the tension nearly suffocated you but it was better than having to listen to him speak.

It worked well for you until Slytherin cheated during a crucial Quidditch match, stealing the victory straight out from under Gryffindor. It was a final straw for Fred, nearly getting into a fistfight with Marcus Flint. Stewing in the Gryffindor common room after, he and George whispered furiously in the corner, the rest of their house leaving them be. The fire in their eyes rivalled the one currently burning in the fireplace and no one wanted to be on the receiving side of it. A piece of parchment lay between them as they plotted out their revenge. If Slytherin wanted to play dirty the twins were more than willing to humour them. The ultimate revenge prank was born, Fred pouring all of his energy into it.

You knew something was suspicious when he smiled at you during Potions that week. He made polite conversation and helped more than usual. You kept your responses to only a word or two, unwilling to play into whatever charade he was trying to pull. It wasn’t until near the end of class that he finally spilt out what he wanted from you.

“You’re pretty talented at potions, I reckon you’d know how to make pretty advanced ones.” He leaned back in his chair, studying the scowl you had on your face.

“You’re seriously about to ask me for help with a potion, Weasley? No doubt for a prank,” you scoffed, shaking your head. “Find another chump, it’s not happening.”

“Come on, we’ve bonded, we’re partners after all!” Fred didn’t mean a word of what he was saying, but he was over his head with this. He needed your brain as much as it pained him to admit it.

“Merlin, you’re hilarious Fred. Catch me before I fall at your feet, begging for your hand.” Rolling your eyes as you always did, you packed up your belongings and shouldered your bag. “Find another person to use, Weasley, I’m not big on being treated with fake kindness.” 

Fred fumed to himself after you left, feeling George clap his shoulder. “I told you they wouldn’t agree to help you, what did you expect?” 

“I knew we had issues but I thought maybe we still had a bond, you know,” Fred shrugged, grabbing his books and tossing them in his bag.

“You’re nothing but awful to each other, Fred. Everyone in this class can feel the anger radiating from the two of you. That kind of passion only ends in murder or a broom closet shag.” George laughed at the look on his twin’s face, clapping his shoulder again. “You can’t deny it, Fred. You’re explosive together.”

Fred brushed off George’s comments, how would he know anything? The only thing between you was a mutual hatred of the other, that’s all. He’d figure out how to pull the prank off himself, your help be damned. Researching harder than he had for any class, he finally perfected exactly what he had hoped you’d help with, ready to show the Slytherin Quidditch team who they messed with. What Fred hadn’t counted on, was your presence with Marcus Flint in the locker room that day. You volunteered with the team, helping run practice and developing plays. The cheating was nothing to do with you, in fact, you’d given Flint an earful after the match for it. Those kinds of actions were the exact reason Slytherin had the reputation it did and you didn’t stand for it.

It went downhill quickly. Chaos broke out as the prank went south, a fire breaking out and Fred could only watch in horror as you were trapped. When someone finally screamed Aguamenti! you were already passed out on the floor from the smoke. The flames had licked at your face, burning your left cheek pretty badly. Fred thought he would drop dead from the regret flooding his system. You weren’t supposed to be there, it wasn’t supposed to go south like this. No one was supposed to get hurt. 

Fred found himself wandering down to the Hospital Wing in the middle of the night, not sure exactly what he wanted to say but knowing it had to be something. He was banking on you being asleep so he could just check-in and leave. He lingered for longer than he probably should have, whispering an apology as a tear rolled down his cheek. Rivalry aside, you were innocent in all of this, how could he wish harm to you simply for arguing with him?

You were absent from potions for the next week, Fred kept his eye out for you but didn’t see you anywhere. When he walked into class the week after and saw you preparing your table, his heart nearly leapt from his chest. Wait, why was his heart pounding? It’s you. He doesn’t care about you. Fred kept it locked so far down he couldn’t recognize his feelings, George knew better than he did. He was hesitant about talking to you, no doubt you’d be furious with him. Who else would have set up such an elaborate prank against the Slytherin team no less?

“There you are, I thought maybe you dropped this class out of shame,” you teased, shooting a smirk at Fred. His heart caught in his throat, unable to find a witty response.

“You’re not ripping my head off” Fred stated, cocking his head. “I know you know it was me, why aren’t I dead right now?”

“Because I should have helped you with the bloody potion, and I can’t blame you for trying to prank Flint, he’s a git.” You shrugged, tucking your hair behind your ear. Fred could see the scar lingering on your cheek, his lips turning down into a frown.

“Stop staring at it, scars are cool anyway. Now I have a story to tell at parties,” you laughed, Fred had never heard you laugh before. Why did his stomach flutter at the sound?

“You’re seriously not upset with me? Merlin, I thought I was headed for the executioner’s block.” Fred let out his own laugh, helping you finish setting up the ingredients.

You should be angry at Fred, it was a careless mistake that nearly maimed you. However, you heard how he looked afterwards and he even visited you in the Hospital Wing when he thought you were asleep. You knew it wasn’t intentional, you heard his dead of night whispered apologies. Merlin’s sake, the boy even cried. How could you stay mad when you brought the great pranking God himself to tears?

“At first I was incredibly angry, but it was just a prank gone wrong. I usually appreciate not being toasted like a marshmallow but it wasn’t your intention. Malfoy told me he saw your face afterwards, you looked regretful. Now, vengeful on the other hand? You bet your ass, Weasley.” You grinned at him and Fred nearly dropped the vial he was holding. Why was he so nervous around you today?

“Should I be concerned, Y/l/n?” Fred returned the grin as you let out another laugh, winking at him now. If this was your revenge it was working, Fred could hardly think straight.

“Maybe, maybe not. You’ll find out eventually,” you whispered as you settled in. The threat of an unknown attack was always the scariest you learned, you could keep Fred on his toes for a while. 

It worked gloriously, Fred was constantly on the lookout for whatever revenge you had planned. Your classes started to be something you looked forward to, but you refused to acknowledge it. You didn’t care about Fred that way, you just loved Potions and messing with him, that’s all. The denial ran deep in both of you to George’s amusement. It was only a matter of time before you gave in to the feelings developing between you.

Your revenge finally took place just as Fred was beginning to doubt your actual intentions. A simple prank really, leaving his skin dyed emerald green and his hair a beautiful silver, the Slytherin colours. When he stormed over to the Slytherin table that morning you couldn’t hold back the laughter from spilling out. He had a smirk on his face, shaking his head at you. Extending his hand, his grin grew as you took it, shaking hands with the enemy.

“Bloody brilliant, Y/l/n, couldn’t have done it better myself.” Fred winked as he walked away, leaving you hiding the heat rising in your cheeks.

“Thanks, Weasley!” You called after him, ignoring the pointed stares of your housemates.

Your relationship changed after that day, the tension shifted. Anger no longer radiated from you, it was something deeper, more complex. Neither of you wanted to open up Pandora’s Box, so you continued on as always, engaging in a more playful banter now. It was painfully obvious to everyone else that you had fallen for each other but no one wanted to meddle. You’d have to confront it sooner or later and everyone wanted a front-row seat.

It wasn’t until you walked into Potions one day to a cauldron already bubbling on Snape’s desk. Amortentia. Love Potion. Crap. You tried to make yourself as small as possible, unwilling to be the one to have to smell the vapours wafting off of it. Fred seemed to be doing the same, George watched with silent laughter from the back of the class.

“Ms. Y/l/n, could you tell the class what I have on my desk?” Snape directed his attention towards you. Cursing being the best in the class, you took a deep breath as you launched into your explanation.

“Amortentia, sir. Commonly just referred to as Love Potion. Causes an intense infatuation with the person who administers the potion. The potion itself smells different depending on who the individual loves and a child conceived under the effects of a love potion would never be able to love.” You braced yourself for what Snape would no doubt ask next.

“And what do you smell, Ms Y/l/n?”

“Firework smoke, cinnamon, and… dung bombs?” Your stomach dropped, heat rising in your neck, cheeks, and ears as you pieced together exactly who that belonged to. 

Fred was equally as flustered, having smelled the vapours from where he was sitting. They smelled like your plum shampoo, the coffee you drank every morning, and the Muggle cherry chapstick you always used. Neither of you would exchange a glance, working in silence until Snape dismissed you. 

You had planned on bolting for the common room, but Fred had other ideas. Grabbing your arm, he pulled you through a few corridors before shoving you through a door. A broom closet. How hilarious. He stared down at you, the same confusion and bewilderment that covered your face. Neither of you spoke for a minute, the air between you grew thick and sticky with the emotions flooding through both of you.

“So.”

“So.”

“We seem to have a predicament here.” Fred exhaled, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“Whatever could you be referring to, Weasley?” you breathed, heart thudding against your chest. Could he hear it?

“Don’t be daft. You know what we both smelled in there” He moved closer to you, god the scent flooded your senses and your knees threatened to give out.

“Shut up and kiss me, Fred.” Your eyes focused on his lips before he leaned in, kissing you hard and fast, pressing you against the wall behind you. His hand gripped your hip as his other wound up your neck into your hair. The fiery passion between you melted as his teeth grazed your lip, a sigh slipping out as he chuckled into the kiss. 

“Don’t tell him, but George called this from day one,” Fred remarked as he pulled away, shaking his head. “Well, technically he said it would be a shag but… that’s beside the point.” His grin stretched nearly ear to ear as you pulled him back in by his tie, crashing your lips against his. They say hatred and love are merely different sides of the same blade and maybe they were right. Maybe there was some truth in it after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I post all of my work at www.firewhisky-kisses.tumblr.com ♥


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